The school principal who
ordered his students to clean the school garden and then beat up twelve of them
for quitting the task early has been suspended until the investigation is
completed.The incident happened in
Silifke, a district of Mersin in the eastern section of the Mediterranean
region of Turkey.
The principal hit the hands of the students with a big pair of compasses until
they were injured and needed medical attention.

According to the newspaper
Mersin Yaşam, this information was provided by Ahmet Beyoğlu, district governor
of Silifke. However, Aşkın Yaşar Topuzoğlu, a lawyer from İstanbul bar, whom
Bianet interviewed, said that the public prosecutor should file a suit without
a complaint from the parents.

“The public prosecutor
should act every time there is a situation that involves every kind of
exploitation and negligence against children and puts in jeopardy their mental,
physical, moral and spiritual development.”

Topuzoğlu: The sentence increases
by half when a person obligated to give protection commits a crime

Reminding that this
incident with physical violence also means violating the corporeal
inviolability of the children, Topuzoğlu added the following: Those whose job
is to educate children are much more responsible for their protection.
According to the Penal Code, the sentence for this crime should be increased by
half.

Dinçer: Students cannot be
forced to do “Arms zone cleaning”

Alaaddin Dinçer, the head
of the Education and Science Workers’ Trade Union, said that the teachers do
not have the authorization to force students to do “Arms zone cleaning.

“Above all, we should ask
why they were not in class during this time. The primary responsibility of the
school administration is that there are no empty classes, that they make sure
all the classes have teachers. However, nobody can make students do cleaning in
order to punish them. These activities can be done only if they benefit the
children in some way.”

“The goal must be the
utmost benefit of the student”

Topuzoğlu also said “these
activities can be organized in order to have the students embrace the principle
of ‘let us make our environment livable’, but the criteria should be the utmost
benefit of the children.”

Different approach between
the newspapers Mersin Yaşam and Radikal

While daily Radikal printed
the names and the pictures of the students, the local newspaper Mersin Yaşam
chose to hide the identities of the students, only publishing the picture of
their injured hands. (TK/GG/TB)

A school principle beats up 12 students for not cleaning the school garden by hitting their hands with a big pair of compasses. The students are hospitalized and the principle is suspended until the investigation is completed.

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